Customer Reviews

Black & Decker CMD3400MB 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

After two weeks' use, I am very pleased with this machine. I didn't really need a programable feature or the charcoal filter, but it's easy enough to just leave the filter out and turn it on manually. I have always used the cone type filters as I thought they would make better coffee, but I find the basket filters are just as good or better. This machine makes great coffee, is easy to load, easy to clean, and matches my other stainless and black kitchen appliances perfectly.

Don't let the low price scare you off -- this is a quality coffeemaker.

I just moved into a new place with stainless appliances, and decided to replace my white Cuisinart DCC1200 12-cup Brew Central (worked sort of OK, made decent coffee, but had some issues -- see other reviews for details).

After checking reviews, it looked like NONE of the 12-cup coffeemakers were rated all that high. I decided to opt for low price, thinking that if it didn't work out, I wasn't out all the much.

At nearly half the cost of the Cuisinart, this Black & Decker performs beautifully, besting the higher-priced maker in nearly every aspect: ease of use, quality of brewed coffee, ease of programming, ease of cleaning, and features.

As an example: I like my coffee a little on the strong side. With my former maker, I had to use more coffee to get the flavor I wanted. With this unit, I simply click on the "brew strength" button to select "strong," and I get exactly the right strength with less coffee.

Programming is very straight-foward, too. And I like the blue background lights for the display as well as the water level.

Easy to use, attractive to look at, and it makes great coffee, all for a very reasonable price: what more could you want?

I bought this coffemaker about 8 months ago, to replace a stupid little percolater in a furnished apartment. I figured it would last me the year I planned to be here. Ha. Who designed this thing anyhow? I've never had a coffemaker in my life that you couldn't shut off without unplugging it. Moreover, the lid of the water chamber opens toward you, blocking the chamber itself, so that you actually have to turn the machine around to pour water into it. The controls are located on the flat top of the coffee basket, so if you have a high counter, you can't see them. And the piece of the basket that swings out to admit the coffee has never locked securely into its housing. Again, I figured, it's a year, what the heck, and used it anyhow. Within three months of its making tolerable coffee, the heating pad began to rust, no matter how clean I kept it, and now it barely works at all. Even when the coffee is first ready, it's lukewarm at best. I would NEVER buy a Black & Decker coffeemaker again. I can't wait to get back to the Krups I have at home, which isn't top of the line, but is an intelligently designed piece of equipment.

I've had this coffee maker for 3 months. When I bought it I fell in love with it. The carafe is the best I've ever had and we've gone through a lot of coffee makers over the years. However, this morning it just died on us. We've tried everything we can think of to get it working again. We'd taken excellent care of it, but for some reason it just won't work. It sounds like it is working, it even beeps like the coffee is done, but nothing comes out. I figure it might be hard water build up. Our water is extremely hard so we do need to replace our coffee makers about every other year. I am just extremely disappointed that this one did not last very long at all. I really had thought that with the carbon filter it would hold up a lot better and longer than our past makers. I've had it soaking in vinegar all day long and yet it still will not work. So back to the store I go for yet another coffee maker. Hopefully one that will last more than 3 months. It's a shame really. I truly do love the looks of this one, and again the carafe is perfect.

I bought this coffee maker and like everyone else, at first I LOVED it. I like that it has a lot of options, I like that you can make the warming plate warmer or less warm (although, I don't know why you would want it less warm). I like the automatic settings. It's easy to use. The thing I don't like, and the primary reason why I give it 3 stars is because I need to replace that stupid carbon filter and it is NOWHERE to be found. Not at best buy, not at target, not at wal-mart. The manual says to replace the carbon filters, you can order them through their 1800 number. That's just ridiculous. I shouldn't have to special order filters for my coffee maker. Overall, it's pretty decent. Unlike some reviewer's coffee, my coffee is always warm and when it's not I simply turn up the warming plate.

It seems to brew OK and the taste is what I would expect. The clock hasn't done anything strange yet and it brews to completion. I really like the carafe/pot; it's nice to see that someone can make one that doesn't cause coffee to pour down the side of the pot and onto the counter. The one problem that will probably cause me to return the coffee maker is that it keeps shutting off immediately after the coffee finishes brewing. It's supposed to stay on for two hours, but it shuts off almost every time it finishes. Since it shuts of, the warmer doesn't keep the coffee hot. By the time I get around to pouring it into my thermos, it's lukewarm. If I press the power button again, it will try to brew for a minute or so, and then it beeps again as if it's finished brewing, except this time the unit stays on. It should stay on after the first brew cycle; I shouldn't have to turn it back on again.

EDIT:
I've now had the coffee maker for 1 year and 1 month. It suddenly quit working this morning. I brewed a pot of coffee about 6 hours earlier and when I tried to brew the latest pot, it refused to work. It beeped about 10-15 minutes after I turned it on, as if it had finished, but there was nothing there and the warmer was cold. My first thought was that I forgot to add water, but I checked and it was full of water. Since it has water in it and the warmer remains cold, I assume it simply quit working. The warranty is only 1 year, so it quit 1 month past the warranty cutoff. Another complaint is that most of the LEDs quit working about 3 months after I bought it, including the power LED, so I couldn't tell if it was on or off by looking at it. I also think it brews too slowly at 10-15 minutes for a full pot, but that may just be me. Lastly, the coffee tasted average and the same regardless of which setting I used (mild/regular/strong).

For positives, the machine looks nice with the black and stainless steel along with the blue LEDs. It also comes with a replaceable carbon water filter and it's programmable. I never programmed mine, but it seems to be easy to figure out.

I used it almost daily, occasionally twice daily, for just over a year. I paid 50 for mine though, and ultimately I'm a bit disappointed that it only lasted 1 year. If I could have gotten it at the current price, I would feel a little better about it quitting on me. I'll be choosing a different brand this time around. Be sure to save your receipt/invoice in case yours quits within the warranty period. I've read some reviews on another site and a few people had theirs quit within 3 months or less. I guess 1 year and over 300 uses isn't terrible, but I had hoped for more considering what I paid for it.

A programmable 12-cup coffee maker with variable heat warming plate, brew strength indicator (mild, medium, strong), permanent filter and clock make this an excellent choice. I put in freshly ground coffee beans and water, press Power and have a couple of cups of coffee in minutes. Three beeps sound when coffee is done. I especially like the permanent mesh basket filter because the bottom of the basket is solid; the coffee can only seep out the sides of the filter, leaving the silt behind. For those of us who like our coffee beans finely ground, this prevents the majority of the coffee silt from flowing into the pot. Blue LED lights illuminate the water panel and the programmable features panel with a blue glow. Stainless accents add a classy touch. Also comes with a teabag device that inserts through the back and allows you to brew tea. Excellent.

Black & Decker; Programmable 12-cup Coffee Maker[...]

This is the WORST!! Do Not Buy. I purchased it Aug. 12, 2008 and about a week ago the clock started doing strange things. This morning it started brewing a pot and stopped dead in the middle!! DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT EVEN Though it was rated well.

We love this coffee maker. Adjustable temp on the warming plate is handy, has a large opening for adding the water unlike some others I looked at. Carafe is great for no-drip pouring.

Got it for a great price while Amazon had it in stock.

The first one had a bad warmer plate, which amazon replaced in January. Now it's december and the second one died.
Stay away from this coffee maker unless you like blowing your hard earned dough.